.com.unity Forums
  The Official e-Store of Shrapnel Games

This Month's Specials

Raging Tiger- Save $9.00
winSPMBT: Main Battle Tank- Save $6.00

   







Go Back   .com.unity Forums > Illwinter Game Design > Dominions 3: The Awakening

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old December 3rd, 2006, 10:57 AM

Azhur Azhur is offline
Corporal
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Oulu/Raahe, Finland
Posts: 120
Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Azhur is on a distinguished road
Default Experience tweaking

Currently IMO experience needs some improvement. While it surely gives nice stat raises & heroic ability, it remains as a rather dull feature.

- When normal units reach five stars, they become commanders and gain +5hp.

- Commander units gain heroic ability at one and three stars. At five they may gain ?1-?5 magic and a new ability. The ability depends upon the class / race: e.g knights = awe, whereas giants = trample.

- At 5 stars, mages produce 1 random magic gem.

- Mindless & Undead don't gain experience. This naturally means, that they need to be buffed up a bit.
__________________
Ïa Ïa Cthulhu Fhtagn!
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old December 3rd, 2006, 11:14 AM
Agrajag's Avatar

Agrajag Agrajag is offline
Lieutenant Colonel
 
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Israel
Posts: 1,449
Thanks: 4
Thanked 8 Times in 2 Posts
Agrajag is on a distinguished road
Default Re: Experience tweaking

Quote:
Azhur said:
Currently IMO experience needs some improvement. While it surely gives nice stat raises & heroic ability, it remains as a rather dull feature.
Experience does not give heroic abilities directly, it just gives a higher rating and thus a better chance of enetering the Hall of Fame, all commanders in the Hall of Fame get a heroic ability, that get stronger the longer they stay in the Hall of Fame.

- When normal units reach five stars, they become commanders and gain +5hp.
Even commander version of the same unit doesn't have 5 more hp than the unit version, so +5hp and commander status for a unit sounds way too much.
Also, you don't always want a certain unit to become a hero, since it can be easier to manage as units.
Imagin if your army all turned to commanders in a turn or two (not unlikely since they all fight together), that would be a nightmare to manage!
Maybe make it so XP levels 2 and 5 both give +1hp or something like that, if you insist on +hp


- Commander units gain heroic ability at one and three stars. At five they may gain ?1-?5 magic and a new ability. The ability depends upon the class / race: e.g knights = awe, whereas giants = trample.
Three heroic abilities at level 5? You have seriously gone too far. +Magic is not only insane, it is also unthematic.
A certain special ability specific to that unit type that can only be obtained at level 5 could be acceptable, I suppose.

- At 5 stars, mages produce 1 random magic gem.
This makes some sense, especially as the special ability of the mage mentioned before. Though the gem type should probably be tied to the type of magic the mage knows

- Mindless & Undead don't gain experience. This naturally means, that they need to be buffed up a bit.
[b]Undead have other advantages, but this is not a point I am going to argue with
__________________
I'm in the IDF. (So any new reply by me is a very rare event.)
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old December 3rd, 2006, 01:40 PM
Taqwus's Avatar

Taqwus Taqwus is offline
Major General
 
Join Date: Aug 2000
Location: Mountain View, CA
Posts: 2,162
Thanks: 2
Thanked 4 Times in 4 Posts
Taqwus is on a distinguished road
Default This isn\'t Dungeons and Dragons.

Besides, a 3- or 4- star unit already has a significant advantage over a 0- or 1- star unit. Look at the table on page 5 of the manual: a contest between two open die rolls with no net modifiers is at 46% chance of success, while a difference of 3 turns it to 70%.

att 13 vs def 10is a difference of 3; 70% chance of hit
att 10 vs def 13 is 24% chance of hit; roughly 3:1 ratio

att 10 vs def 10 (before 3 star difference) is 46% of hit


There's also effects on precision and morale. That morale boost might come in handy against Fear and Awe effects.
__________________
Are we insane yet? Are we insane yet? Aiiieeeeee...
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old December 3rd, 2006, 09:15 PM
Tyrant's Avatar

Tyrant Tyrant is offline
First Lieutenant
 
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: N. California
Posts: 624
Thanks: 7
Thanked 29 Times in 3 Posts
Tyrant is on a distinguished road
Default Re: This isn\'t Dungeons and Dragons.

I think the original ideas are a bit much, but i too would like to see a bit more benefit out of exp. Especially since the age thing makes HoF abilites even less useful than in DomII.

Perhaps something like a straight + 1 Morale per star in addition to the existing bonuses and/or a random two point stat boost at three stars.
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old December 4th, 2006, 04:32 AM
Arralen's Avatar

Arralen Arralen is offline
Major General
 
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: 500km from Ulm
Posts: 2,279
Thanks: 9
Thanked 18 Times in 12 Posts
Arralen is on a distinguished road
Default Re: This isn\'t Dungeons and Dragons.

I wonder if everyone realizes what the benefits of experience actually are already..

Effects of increased experience (non-cumulative)

XP 1 (15pts)
Att +1
Def +1
Prec +1
Mrl +1

XP 2 (50pts.)
Att +2
Def +2
Prec +2
Mrl +2

XP 3 (100pts)
Att +3
Def +3
Prec +3
Mrl +3
Str +1

XP 4 (200pts)
Att +4
Def +4
Prec +4
Mrl +4
Str +1
Enc -1
HP +2

XP 5 (400pts)
Att +5
Def +5
Prec +5
Mrl +5
Str +2
Enc -1
HP +2

... do we really need more? Remember, that's what every single unit (unless mindless) can get ...
__________________
As for AI the most effective work around to this problem so far is to simply use an American instead, they tend to put up a bit more of a fight than your average Artificial Idiot.
... James McGuigan on rec.games.computer.stars somewhen back in 1998 ...
Reply With Quote
  #6  
Old December 4th, 2006, 08:47 AM
Sandman's Avatar

Sandman Sandman is offline
Second Lieutenant
 
Join Date: Oct 2003
Posts: 477
Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Sandman is on a distinguished road
Default Re: This isn\'t Dungeons and Dragons.

I like the Dominions experience system. Experience is all too often the dominant factor in games like this. The afflictions are cool as well. Old age... less so.
Reply With Quote
  #7  
Old December 4th, 2006, 11:59 AM
Uh-Nu-Buh's Avatar

Uh-Nu-Buh Uh-Nu-Buh is offline
Sergeant
 
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: athens, georgia
Posts: 274
Thanks: 0
Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post
Uh-Nu-Buh is on a distinguished road
Default Re: This isn\'t Dungeons and Dragons.

It might be cool to use the current system of experience, but empower it a wee bit like this.

Example: Light Infantry with no exp costs 10gp and 5rp. If you paid 25% more gold you could have them well trained right off the bat (1 star). 50% more for veterans (2 stars). 100% more for elites with 3 stars. These costs are a first attempt and might be off. You're paying a premium for your unit, sacrificing future toughening, etc. It would probably only be worth it for your heavy units. Myrmidons, etc.

It would be easy to mod an approximation of this. Have these experienced warriors only available from your home province (tied to a site like War Academy or somesuch).

Tying in to another thread, it would tip the scales against magic even further.... Some definite pros and cons.
__________________
--Uh-Nu-Buh, Fire/Death
Reply With Quote
  #8  
Old December 4th, 2006, 12:45 PM
B0rsuk's Avatar

B0rsuk B0rsuk is offline
Second Lieutenant
 
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Gdansk, Poland
Posts: 420
Thanks: 0
Thanked 15 Times in 4 Posts
B0rsuk is on a distinguished road
Default Re: This isn\'t Dungeons and Dragons.

I have a better idea.

Levels(1-5): +1 heroic ability, +3 str, +3defence, +3 precision.
Level6: +1 ultimate ability (Avatar, Metamorphosis, Starfall, Resurrection, Raise Dead, Bladestorm, Earthquake, Tornado, Stampede, Death&Decay, Infernal, Teleport, Reincarnation, Charm, Big Bad Voodoo, Doom, Locust Swarm, Vengeance, or Tranquility !
Fun !
__________________
Those who do not understand Master Of Magic are condemned to reinvent it - badly.
Reply With Quote
  #9  
Old December 4th, 2006, 12:51 PM
Uh-Nu-Buh's Avatar

Uh-Nu-Buh Uh-Nu-Buh is offline
Sergeant
 
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: athens, georgia
Posts: 274
Thanks: 0
Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post
Uh-Nu-Buh is on a distinguished road
Default Re: This isn\'t Dungeons and Dragons.

B0rsuk, as usual you see right to the heart of the matter. I will be interested to see the mod you produce. ;-)
__________________
--Uh-Nu-Buh, Fire/Death
Reply With Quote
  #10  
Old December 4th, 2006, 12:55 PM

Folket Folket is offline
Major
 
Join Date: Sep 2005
Posts: 1,122
Thanks: 5
Thanked 2 Times in 2 Posts
Folket is on a distinguished road
Default Re: This isn\'t Dungeons and Dragons.

Seems to me that those ultimate abilities will just come to things that are in no need of empowerment. Air Queens, Heliphagious and other unique summons do not need more bonuses, and they are most likly to get six stars.
Reply With Quote
Reply

Bookmarks


Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is On

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -4. The time now is 07:23 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.1
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright ©1999 - 2024, Shrapnel Games, Inc. - All Rights Reserved.